Iowa corngrowers are in Des Moines this week for their annual conference to set their priority list of issues they’d like to see addressed. Tim Recker of Arlington says it’s a chance for county delegates to voice their specific concerns to state delegates.
Recker, is set to become the Iowa Corn Growers Associations new president. He says some of the top issues for corn growers are repairing the lock and dam system on the upper Mississippi, and transportation standards dealing with weight limits. He says they’d like to see the weight limit expanded to 90-thousand pounds year round. Recker says with the increase in ethanol plants and use, corn growers have to get accurate information out on corn.
Recker says they’ve been concentrating on promoting ethanol, but he says in the last year with the media focusing on corn, and corn prices, they’ve had to change to "defending corn." Recker has been involved in the Iowa Corn Growers Association since 1993. He says it brings a group of growers together to work on policy and continue to provide opportunities for Iowa corn growers.
Recker says there are some issues being dealt with in northeast Iowa that he’d like to see expanded statewide. Recker says they need to get producers involved locally to identify issues in their watershed and talk about how to fix the problems. He says the meetings on watershed have worked well in northeast Iowa. Recker will officially become president of the organization Tuesday.